Pond Plant Identification 101

Over the years we’ve talked to a lot of pond owners and one of the keys to passing on a good “diagnosis” and treatment is to figure out just what the pond owner is seeing in their pond. To put it simply, it’s of basic importance to identify what your problem is, so you can treat it appropriately.

In the video below we talk about some of the more common “problem” plants that you’ll find in most ponds. In many cases of the of the pond weeds are more commonly found in larger ponds, but the algae we talk about can show up in any size of pond.

Along with an explanation and photos of the plants, we also talk about how to deal with them effectively.
This is by no means a complete list of undesired pond plants, that would number in the hundreds or thousands, but it may serve as a good start in planning your way to a cleaner and better looking pond.

By the way, as you’re watching the video if you’d like to play this full screen to get a better look at the pictures, just click on the button with the arrows pointing outward in the lower right hand corner of the video player.

3 Responses to Pond Plant Identification 101

The video was a great help in identifying our problem. We have approx. one third acre with duck weed. Last summer we had filamentous algae described as matted slimy green with long roots and I applied copper sulphate and it worked great. Applied the same this spring but not effective at all on duck weed. Video suggested using acquatic hermicide, but is it too late to apply? We have a fountain in the middle of the pond to circulate, but the duck weed is increasing daily and floats with the direction of the wind. Our pond is the center of our Adult community with trees around the pond but otherwise plenty of sun exposure. Would dye help to slow down the algae growth?
The Environmental Dept. is going to flush out the water lines in our homes and it will drain into the pond. This is treated water and I would like to know what effective this would have on the algae. Thank you for the info.

Hi Charlotte,
You’re right about copper not working on duckweed. You’ll need something like Weedtrine-D or Sonar, the first one being more affordable.

Usually it’s recommend to treat duckweed early. Once it’s underway it’s harder to treat, and takes more chemicals to do it.

By the time we get into mid-summer I usually suggest just letting it run it’s course and be prepared next spring at the earliest signs of it…treat at that point and you minimize the need for chemcials.

One other option we’ve had luck with is our biospheres. These are designed to work on algae primarily but they also help with duckweed if you treat and lower nutrient loads in the water well before it show’s up. We have kept it from forming in problematic ponds this way, but not after it show’s up. At that point, a very targeted herbicide would probably be better.

We use dye in very shallow ponds mostly to help cut down on light penetration. This can help in some cases with algae and underwater weeds but it’s not done a head of lowering nutrient loads as I noted above. Instead it’s used as a possible supplement to this work when it might be useful to do so.